Comma to the Top fought his way to victory in the Tom Fool
(Bud Morton/EquiSport Photos)

Trainer Peter Miller said he didn't expect Comma to the Top to pull out a victory in
Saturday's Grade 3 Tom Fool Handicap at Aqueduct after he lost the lead in the stretch, but
wasn't surprised by the five-year-old gelding's tenacity.

"I thought he was beaten and that he was going to finish
third," Miller said. "The horse and (jockey
Joel Rosario) are both so strong and so good. I give a lot of credit to Joel for
getting him to come back. It was an amazing race from an amazing horse."

The Tom Fool was Comma to the Top's second start in the
span of a week as he had finished third in the Grade 2 San Carlos on February 23
at Santa Anita.

"We put ourselves out there and a lot of people were second
guessing the decision (to ship Comma to the Top from California to New York for
the Tom Fool), but I live with the horse seven days a week and know the horse,"
Miller asserted.

The trainer added that Comma to the Top, who departed New York for California
early Sunday morning, likely will make his next start within four to six weeks
and that there's a "very good chance" it will be the Grade 1, $400,000 Carter
Handicap on April 6.

The bay son of Bwana Charlie was making just his second start outside of
California in the Tom Fool, with his previous coming as an off-the-board run in
the 2011 Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs.

Art Magnuson, assistant to trainer Kiaran McLaughlin, said that Godolphin Racing's Consortium, fourth
in the Tom Fool, could face a rematch with Comma to the Top in the Carter.

"He came out great," Magnuson said. "Unlucky at the break,
a little flat-footed, but good run, good fight. We'd absolutely look at the
Carter -- good timing."

The Bernardini four-year-old entered the Tom Fool owning just one other
stakes try and his only other off-the-board run: a sixth-place finish in the
Grade 3 Holy Bull in January 2012.

Trainer Rudy Rodriguez expressed no disappointment over Head Heart
Hoof's third-place finish in the Tom Fool. The seven-year-old son of Intidab was
exiting a half-length victory in the the Grade 3 Toboggan on February 2.

"It was one of the best races he's ever run," Rodriguez said of Head Heart Hoof's performance in the Tom Fool. "I was more
impressed to see him hang around with that type of horses than what he did last
time (in the Toboggan). I know last time he was a winner, but it looked like he
had (Comma to the Top) beat. (Comma to the Top) was just better than us, but I
was very, very happy with the way he ran. He was going very good, very
comfortable.

"The last time (jockey Cornelio Velasquez) took a nice hold of him.
Yesterday, (Velasquez) was able to let him relax and move along very comfortably
with another horse. For a moment, it looked like he was going to sprint away
from (Comma to the Top)."

Owner
Mike Repole had two runners on Aqueduct's Saturday card -- Overanalyze (Dixie
Union), who finished fifth in the Grade 3 Gotham, and New York-bred Johannesburg Smile
(Johannesburg), the seventh-place finisher in the
Tom Fool following a runner-up effort to Head Heart Hoof in the Toboggan.

"He pulled up well," said Whit Beckman, assistant to trainer Todd Pletcher. "I think with
yesterday's track he would have been better being forwardly placed -- with his
running style, he wasn't going to get there. I think a little more distance is
going to be in his near future. He looked like he was getting strongest about
the time the wire hit, and I think a little more ground would have been our
answer there."